5 Greatest Battles of Britain
By Ryan Willox
5. Celtic 3 Manchester City 3, September 2016
We can only hope that Tuesday’s encounter will be anything like as good as this.
Celtic fans approached the match in trepidation after an opening day 7-0 humbling at the hands of Barcelona.
Within minutes of the kick-off at a rapturous Celtic Park all the apprehension was swept away in a barrage of intensity and aggression that threatened to blow City’s doors off.
With three minutes on the clock, Moussa Dembele bundled home Eric Sviatchenko’s header before Fernandinho took advantage of a fortunate mis-hit to beat the offside trap and sweep City level.
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The ebullient crowd barely had time to draw breath before Raheem Sterling diverted Kieran Tierney’s cross into his own net.
Back came City in a toe-to-toe thriller as David Silva and Sterling combined to bamboozle the home defense with the latter atoning for his own goal with an assured finish.
Minutes into the second half, an outstanding piece of improvisation from Dembele put Celtic ahead again 3-2 before Nolito completed the scoring with a tap-in from a Sergio Aguero rebound.
Time may cast this classic tie in a more favorable glow and there is an argument for inclusion further up the list.
But for the moment we’ll let it sit at the start by way of glorious introduction.